Gun Laws

One sign of being crazy is to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. Allowing guns to proliferate on our streets repeatedly has resulted in violence against innocent people, but given the opportunity to do something different, the U.S. Senate has settled on more of the same - which is nothing ("Senate rejects expanded checks on gun purchases," April 18). The senators who voted against a sane revision of gun laws dishonored the memory of those slaughtered in Columbine, Aurora, Tucson, Newtown and all those who continue to be slaughtered every day on streets everywhere across this country.

I noticed with all the gun control talk and various politicians knocking each other over for the microphone to create a new law to save lives, those same politicians failed to do the same for the seven inmate deaths in the last seven months ("Senate gives final approval to gun control bill" April 4). How could this be? A controlled environment (government run) where no weapons are allowed, let alone guns, has seven homicides in seven months! Surely, a politician during this most recent session in Annapolis would have sponsored some bill, right?

National Rifle Association President David Keene said Tuesday that the organization intends to challenge the constitutionality of Maryland's newly passed gun law, as a conservative group readied plans to try to overturn the law through voter referendum. Keene said during a radio interview the group will “absolutely” go to the courts. “We are already in court in New York and we will be in court and aiding those in Maryland - and I am myself a Maryland resident - who want to challenge the constitutionality of this and other provisions here in Maryland,” Keene said to the Washington, D.C., station WTOP.

The House of Delegates voted Wednesday to give Maryland one of the toughest gun laws in the nation, passing a bill that would ban the sale of assault-type weapons, set a 10-bullet limit on magazines and require fingerprints and a license to buy a handgun. Delegates altered the Senate's bill during more than 10 hours of emotional floor debate that lasted over two days. Key lawmakers said they expect the differences to be resolved quickly and the legislation sent to Gov. Martin O'Malley for his promised signature.

The Sun and others have paid little attention to the importance of firearm size in the context of the current gun control debate. Due to the fact they are easily concealed and portable, handguns are more often accidentally discharged, used to commit suicide and, most importantly, employed by criminals. Rifles, on the other hand, are far less to be involved in such cases. That's why lumping rifle and handgun restrictions together is a mistake. People who purchase firearms less than 30 inches in length should receive the additional scrutiny the state wants, but the tougher scrutiny shouldn't apply to those who buy guns larger than that.

A line of cars snaked around the government office parking lot, down Bendix Road and for up to half a mile along Route 108 in the late morning and the afternoon, as people waited for hours to trade in guns to Howard County police for crisp $100 bills. At the end of the day police had recovered 631 guns and at 2:30 had to start turning cars away, officials said. The last time they tried a similar effort in 1995, the total number of guns collected was three. "We didn't know what to expect," said Chief William McMahon, but officials were pleased with the turnout.

Neither the Constitution nor the wisest of laws will secure the liberty or happiness of a people whose manners are corrupt. Passing new restrictions on guns will not reduce crime. Patrick Henry Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

As Maryland contemplates passing one of the nation's strictest gun laws, at least seven other states have courted its gun manufacturers, offering tax incentives and open arms elsewhere. The governor of Texas, West Virginia's House speaker and an Illinois congressman have written to Beretta USA officials, inviting a move and promising a better business climate if the 400-year-old Italian company chooses to abandon its U.S. headquarters on the Potomac. Another arms manufacturer and defense contractor on the Eastern Shore, LWRC International, received offers, some including tax incentives, from elected or government officials in Nebraska, Mississippi, North Dakota, Nevada, Texas and West Virginia, a company executive said.

With the passage of the new bill, the criminal element in Maryland will now feel much safer, knowing that fewer law-abiding people will have legally owned guns.  Chicago is just one example of tough gun controls laws and how well they work.  Well done, Governor, you will be able to proudly claim credit for  the pending gun crime increase that is coming. Daryl Leger Annapolis

Over 2,000 people - 38 of them children - have been killed by guns in America since the massacre at Newtown two months ago. The U.S. firearm homicide rate is 20 times greater than other high-income countries. We have brought down the death toll from cars, toys and medications through careful study and thoughtful legislation - why can't we do this with guns? Taking steps to keep guns out of the wrong hands doesn't violate the second amendment any more than prohibitions against shouting "fire" in a crowded theater violate the first amendment.